Does Phowa create a hole in the cranium?
Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 4:05 pm
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No, a "piece of straw", as opposed to a "piece of grass" --KonchokZoepa wrote:a plastic straw ?
How is phowa possible for people who die suddenly without knowing?smcj wrote:You get a pimple on your head. When it pops that's what the straw goes in.
We had a Dharma student here in L.A. that had learned the most basic form of the practice, which is meant for non-meditators. Then one day he died of a heart attack. They found him sitting up. He was bald and had a bright red spot on his head where your consciousness is supposed to exit. Evidently it worked!
As a footnote I think I should add that he was not well thought of or liked very much. In fact he was very annoying, but he had money that he would give to centers. So he was always in the middle of everything and making problems. In all honesty he drove everybody nuts. Plus he almost never actually practiced. So there's hope for us all!
Its not a conscious matter. The seeds ripen. It is as natural as the first breath at the beginning of the life span. That needs no cognition either.Nighthawk wrote:How is phowa possible for people who die suddenly without knowing?smcj wrote:You get a pimple on your head. When it pops that's what the straw goes in.
We had a Dharma student here in L.A. that had learned the most basic form of the practice, which is meant for non-meditators. Then one day he died of a heart attack. They found him sitting up. He was bald and had a bright red spot on his head where your consciousness is supposed to exit. Evidently it worked!
As a footnote I think I should add that he was not well thought of or liked very much. In fact he was very annoying, but he had money that he would give to centers. So he was always in the middle of everything and making problems. In all honesty he drove everybody nuts. Plus he almost never actually practiced. So there's hope for us all!
Then what is phowa? I thought it was all about ejecting your consciousness into a pure land and that requires some sort of effort. Someone who dies in a car accident wouldn't be able to do that.Simon E. wrote:Its not a conscious matter. The seeds ripen. It is as natural as the first breath at the beginning of the life span. That needs no cognition either.Nighthawk wrote:How is phowa possible for people who die suddenly without knowing?smcj wrote:You get a pimple on your head. When it pops that's what the straw goes in.
We had a Dharma student here in L.A. that had learned the most basic form of the practice, which is meant for non-meditators. Then one day he died of a heart attack. They found him sitting up. He was bald and had a bright red spot on his head where your consciousness is supposed to exit. Evidently it worked!
As a footnote I think I should add that he was not well thought of or liked very much. In fact he was very annoying, but he had money that he would give to centers. So he was always in the middle of everything and making problems. In all honesty he drove everybody nuts. Plus he almost never actually practiced. So there's hope for us all!
sipa bardo?KonchokZoepa wrote:can anyone die without knowing. and i think phowa is actually possible also in the sipa bardo, im not 100% sure on this but since you can achieve nirmakaya liberation in the sipa bardo i would imagine that you could do phowa at that point also.
I learned it from Gonpo Tsedan R. (Nyingma). He said that there were 5 level of Phowa. 3 levels were for yogis only, and resulted in Dharmakaya, Sambogakaya, and Nirmanakaya realizations while still in alive in this body. The fourth level was what a realized lama did for a deceased person. The fifth level was what he was going to teach us, which was for non-meditators and was to be performed just before death if the person had the luxury of knowing that they were going to die. And yes, you are supposed to eject your consciousness out of the top of your head, hence the story I just told. If you got hit by a bus you wouldn't have time to do it and you were just out of luck.Then what is phowa? I thought it was all about ejecting your consciousness into a pure land and that requires some sort of effort. Someone who dies in a car accident wouldn't be able to do that.
As you say, that scenario if for an accomplished, a.k.a. "professional" meditator. In the version I was taught (for non-meditators) you've got to have time to do the practice just before death.after you master it or become sufficiently '' professional '' in it, the phowa becomes effortless and does not require effort at the time of death. it was said just few days ago in the teachings that when you are good in phowa you do not need to recite even the seed syllable of the practice. it happens automatically.
I found the story in his book, Wonders of the Natural Mind, in the chapter titled, 'My Life and Experiences of the Teaching.'Lhasa wrote:Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche has experienced this, he describes having the blade of grass in his crown and his teacher left it there several days. Sorry, I don't remember which book he shares this in.
Garchen Rinpoche said in his last teachings that it is enough that you can recall Amitabha, no visualization or recitation is required if you have made the pathway clear and have achieved accomplishment in the practice.smcj wrote:As you say, that scenario if for an accomplished, a.k.a. "professional" meditator. In the version I was taught (for non-meditators) you've got to have time to do the practice just before death.after you master it or become sufficiently '' professional '' in it, the phowa becomes effortless and does not require effort at the time of death. it was said just few days ago in the teachings that when you are good in phowa you do not need to recite even the seed syllable of the practice. it happens automatically.